Closure for containers



' Jan l, 1957 E. H. E. THORNTON 2,776,066

CLOSURE FOR CONTAINERS Filed Aug. 20, 1954 2 Sheets-Sheet l IN VENTORATTORNEYS Jan- 1 1957 E. H. E. THORNTON 2,776,066

cLosuRE FOR CONTAINERS Filed Aug. 20, 1954 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 ggg' Z 'f543 1N VENTOR ATTORNEYS United States Patent O ice 2,776,066

CLOSURE FOR CONTAINERS Elbert H. E. Thornton, Odessa, Tex.

Application August 20, 1954, Serial No. 451,149

3 Claims. (Cl. 21S- 44) This invention relates generally to a closurefor containers. More particularly the invention is directed to acontainer closure for bottles, jars and like containers embodyingcooperating locking parts on screw thread elements carried respectivelyby the closure and container, whereby specific manipulation of theclosure relative to the container is required to effect removal of theclosure therefrom.

The ever present danger to small children and infants of theiraccidentally consuming fatal or near fatal dosages of variousmedications in tablet or iluid form has long been recognized.Medicaments and other dangerous materials such as poisons aretraditionally dispensed in bottle containers. These containers, whenleft in a position accessible to infants and younger children, oler anever present inducement to sample the contents of the container.

Recognizing the dangers present in the indiscriminate consumption ofmedicaments or other harmful materials by children, the presentinvention is particularly directed toward providing a container closurewhich may be simply removed from the container by appropriatemanipulation by an adult while such manipulative procedure for removalof the closure is beyond the mental comprehension of an infant and/orthe physical power of such infant. Thus, upon applying the closure toits container the danger of accidental or intentional removal of theclosure from the container by an infant or small child is precluded.

Accordingly it is a principal object of this invention to provide acontainer closure having a cam surface disposed on its cylindrical skirtportion to engage with a cam surface on the neck portion of thecontainer, with the cam surfaces having mating parts cooperable in oneposition of orientation of the closure relative to the container torestrain the closure and container against relative rotational movementtogether with resilient biasing means disposed between the closure andcontainer to urge the mating parts into rotation restrainingcooperation.

lt is a further object of this invention to provide an interlockingcontainer and closure structure having cooperating screw thread elementsdisposed on the closure skirt portion and the container neck portionwith the engaging surfaces of said thread elements having matingindentations and projections spaced at diiferent distances along thelength of the thread elements so that upon rotation of said closurerelative to said container a point will be reached where registration ofthe indentations and projections occurs together with resilient meansbetween the container and closure to urge movement of the matingindentations and projections into registration to lock the closure onthe container.

lt is an additional object of this invention to provide an interlockingcontainer and closure structure having cooperating screw thread elementson the closure skirt portion and the container neck portion, one of saidthread elements having a projection at the outer leading end thereofproviding a pocket inwardlyv of the projection to Patented Jan. l, 1957receive and retain the other thread element together with resilientbiasing means to urge the other thread element into the pocket on saidone thread element to thereby lock the cap and bottle against relativerotational movement.

Other objects and advantages of the invention will be apparent withreference to the following description of specific embodiments of theinvention taken in connection with the accompanying drawing in which:

Figure l is a side elevation partially in section with the closurepartially applied to the container;

Figure 2 is a sectional view taken on line 2 2 of Figure l;

Figure 3 is a sectional view showing the closure fully applied to thecontainer to seal the open top thereof;

Figure 4 is a sectional view taken on lines 4 4 of Figure 3;

Figure 5 is a developed view of the mating screw thread elements shownin their relationship with the closure and container as in Figure l;

Figure 6 is a developed view taken on line 6 6 of Figure 5;

Figure 7 is a developed view showing the relationship of the screwthread elements with the closure locked on the container 'as in Figure3;

Figure 8 is a view similar to Figure 7 but showing the position of thethread elements with their mating parts disengaged by the application ofpressure to the top of the closure;

Figure 9 is la view similar to Figure 7 illustrating a modified formy ofmating parts on the screw thread elements;

Figure l0 is a vievv similar to Figure 9 illustrating a further modifiedform of mating parts on the screw thread elements;

Figure 11 is a side elevational view illustrating a closure havingseparate thread segments making up the screw thread element;

Figure 12 is a bottoni plane view of the closure of Figure l1; and pFigure 13 is aside elevational view of a container having thread'segments formed to lockingly cooperate with the thread segments on theclosure of Figures 11` and 12.

Referring specifically to the drawings and more particularly Figures lthrough 4, there is shown thereon a container 10 such as a bottle or jarwhich may be of glass, plastic, metal'or other suitable material. Thiscontainer has a neck portion 11 providing an opening 12 for theintroduction and removal of material from the container 10.

A closure 13 in the form of a cap of plastic, metal or other suitablematerial having a cylindrical skirt portion 14 and a` circular topportion 15 is provided to cooperate with neck portion 11 in sealingopening 12. A sealing disc 16 is positioned within the skirt portion 14adjacent the top portion 15 and is normally held in spaced relation totop portion 15 by a resilient layer 17. The resilient layerrll may takethe form of sponge rubber such as specifically illustrated on thedrawings or other suitable yieldable materiai. On the other hand, withinthe scope of the instant invention resilient spring means may besubstituted for the resilient layer 17 so that such spring means willyieldab'ly retain the sealing disc 16 spaced from the top portion 15.The purpose and function of yieldably supporting the sealing discrelative to the top of the cap is more fully explained hereinafter.

The neck portion 11 of container 10 is provided with a screw threadelement 20. This element helically encirclesthe neck portion 11 and, asillustrated, is provided with indentations or interruptions 21. Theindentations 21 are formed of progressively increased length with thelength off the first indentation at the leading end of the threadelement 20 being the shortest and each succeeding indentation 21 beingprogressively longer in length toward the end of the thread element 2t).The relationship between the lengths of indentations or intermptions 21and spacings therebetween is more clearly illustrated by the developedviews of the thread elements as shown in Figures 5 through 8.

The interior of the skirt portion 14 of closure 13 is provided with ahelical screw thread element 30. This element extends radially inwardlyfrom the interior surface of skirt portion 14 and is provided at spacedpositions along its length with notches or indentations 31. The notches31 are of varying length commencing from the leading end of the threadelement 30 and progressively increasing in length toward the end of suchthread element. Notchcs 31 provide along the length of thread element 30a series of longitudinally spaced projections 32.

The relative size in length and spacing of the projections 32 incomparison with the indentations 21 is such that upon appropriaterelative movement of closure 13 relative to container 10, the respectivethread elements will be moved to a point where projections 32 willmatingly register with indentations 21. At all other positions oforientation of closure 13 relative to container 10, the matingprojections 32 and indentations 21 will not be in proper alignedregistration and therefore the thread elements carried respectively bythe container and closure will be effective as ordinary screw threads tourge, upon relative rotation of the members, the closure 13 on or oi ofcontainer 10, depending on the direction of relative rotation betweenthe two members.

Figure 1 illustrates the relationship of the thread elements 20 and 30when the closure 13 is only partially screwed on to the container 10. Itwill be noted that, as shown in this figure and from the developed viewsof Figures 5 and 6, the projections 32 are not so related to theindentations 21 at this partially applied position as to registerablycooperate therewith.

Upon continued rotation of closure 13 relative to container 10, towardcontainer closing, the thread elements urge the closure 13 axiallyinwardly toward a position where sealing disc 16 engages the outer endof neck portion 11. Desirably, at this time the projections 32 are notyet aligned with indentations 21 so as to permit mating registration ofthese parts. As rotation of closure 13 is continued, the resilient layer17 is compressed between disc 16 and the top portion 15 of closure 13.The compression of resilient layer 17 sets up a biasing action whichurges the closure 13 outwardly relative to container and thereby forcesthe thread elements 20 and 30 into tirm engagement.

As shown more clearly in Figures 7 and 8, as the projections 32 aremoved by orientation of closure 13 relative to container 10 to a pointwhere they matingly register with the indentations 21, the biasing forcecreated by the compression of resilient layer 17 is effective to drawthe projections 32 into registration with the mating indentations 21.The slight outward movement of closure 13 relative to the container 10results in partial relieving of the compression of resilient layer 17.However, ideally, the extent of outward movement is so limited as toleave layer 17 partially under compression so that disc 16 will beretained in firm sealing engagement with the outer end of neck portion11 of container 10.

As the projections 32 move axially into registration with theindentations 21, it will be apparent that further relative rotationbetween the closure 13 and the container 10 is precluded. ln otherwords, the registration of these parts results in locking the closure 13against removal from the container 10.

As desired, for removal of the closure 13 from the container 10, axialpressure is applied against the top portion 15 of the closure to move itdownwardly compressing layer 17 and moving the thread element 30carrying projections 32 axially relative to the thread element 20 havingindentations 21. The relative positions of the members as such an axialforce is applied to top portion 15, is illustrated in Figure 8. Uponeffecting such freeing of the projections 32 from indentations 21, theclosure 13 may be rotated relative to container l0 for removal of theclosure therefrom. lt will be appreciated that once the projections 32have been moved slightly out of registration with indentations 21, theaxial force applied to top portion 15 may be relieved since the threadelements 20 and 3) may then operate as ordinary screw threads inpermitting unscrewing of the closure from the neck portion of thecontainer.

It will be readily appreciated that the continuity of thread element 30insures that the projections 32 will not pass completely throughindentations 21 so that the closure would move axially off of the neckportion of the container. ln other words, notches or indentations 31, bynot extending completely through the thread clement 30. provide a baseor stop which engages the portion of the thread element 20 intermediatethe indentations 21 and thereby limits outward movement of the closureupon alignment of the indentations and projections for interengagement.

Although as illustrated, the indentations have been shown as formed inthe thread element carried by the neck portion of the container with theprojections carried by the thread element on the skirt portion of theclosure, it will be readily recognized that within the scope of theinstant invention the relationship may be reversed with the indentationsformed on the thread element of the closure and the projections formedon the thread element of the container. Further it will be appreciatedthat a variety of modified cooperating thread elements may be employedwithin the contemplation of the instant invention, such thread elementsbeing provided with mating parts which will register upon moving theclosure and container to a predetermined relative orientation of theclosure relative to the container.

Of particular importance in the instant invention is the spacing and/orsize relationship between the mating parts carried by the respectivethread elements of the closure and container. As illustrated, theindentations and projections are formed of progressively increasinglength so that registration between these parts cannot occur until theclosure has been rotated to a point where all of the projections aredisposed opposite indentations equal in length to the respectiveprojections. Various equivalent structures can be visualized which wouldbe equally as eective, as by uniformly sized projections andindentations distributed at progressively increased distances along thelength of the engaging thread elements, or projections and indentationsof progressively increased length positioned at equal distances alongthe length of the thread elements.

All of these modifications within the contemplation of the instantinvention call for a structure wherein the closure may rotate smoothlyand evenly into closing position for the container up to a point wherethe projections coincide with the indentations so that axial movement ofthe closure is permitted by the biasing means carried in the top of theclosure to effect locking of the closure on the container. By providingfor simultaneous interengagement of a plurality of mating parts tointerlock the closure on the container, increased strength is impartedto the overall structure since any torque applied to the closure toremove it without disengaging the mating parts is evenly distributed tothe plurality of interengaged parts without concentrating such torqueload on only one set of interengaged parts. Thus the possibility ofshearing the mating parts from the screw thread elements by a twist ofthe closure is lessened.

Figure 9 illustrates a container and closure device embodying theprinciples of `the structure described hereinabove while illustrating analteration in the forming of the indentations and projections which willresult in rmer locking of the closure on the container when an attemptis made to unscrew the closure without initially forcing theclosuredownwardly to disengag'cr: the" registered projections and indentations`Inthe structure. described hereinabove with regard to Figuresl through8, `thesides of the projections 32 and indentations 21`are shownrasextending generally parallel to the axis of rotation for the closurerelative to the container. With this straight side wall relation between`the indentationsV and` projections, the closure ismoved axially bypressure appliedto the top portion to disengage Vsuch parts to unscrewthe closure from the container..

In Figure 9 a screw thread element 40 is disposed around the neckportion of the containerxandis,provided with pockets or indentations 41at longitudinally spaced positions along the length of the threadelement.` The closure 43, havingV a top portion 45, a sealingdisc46 anda resilient layer 47, carries a thread element 50 having projections 52disposed at spaced positions longitudinally thereof to coincide" withthelength, size and spacing of the indentations 41 on threadv element 40.1The side walls 53 of the projection 52` are parallel-andv disposeddiagonally of thev axis of-rotation of closure 43 relative to thecontainer. The indentations 41'on'thread element 4i) have the side wallsthereof similarly formed to matingly cooperate with the projections 52.

Figure 9 illustrates the position of the thread elements 40 and 50 whenclosure 43 is lockingly secured on the container. An attempt to unscrewclosure 43 without first axially moving the closure would result in theleading sloping walls 53 of projections 52 tending to move into morepositive locking engagement with the indentations carried by the threadelement 40. Thus with such a relationship between the side walls of theindentations and projections, a more positive locking action is securedif a person attempts to remove closure 43 without initially disengagingthe projections 52 from registration with indentations 41.

Figure l illustrates a further modification of the relation between theindentations and projections carried by the respective thread elementsof a closure and container. As shown in this figure, the thread element60 is provided with outwardly flaring indentations 61 and a closure 63,having a top portion 65, a sealing disc 66 and resilient layer 67,carries a thread element 70 having tapered projections 72 formed atspaced positions therealong corresponding in size and spacing toindentations 61 on thread element 60. In Figure 10 the closure andcontainer are shown positioned in their interlocked state. Normally, toremove closure 63 from the container axial force is applied, compressinglayer 67 and disengaging projections 72 from registration withindentations 61. However, by reason of the flared relationship of`indentations 61 to the tapered form of projections 72 it is possible byapplication of su'icient torque to the closure 63 to cause theprojections 72 to ride downwardly out of engagement with indentations 61and thence permit unscrewing of the closure from the container.

Figures 1l, 12 and 13 illustrate a further modification embodying thefeatures of the instant invention. In this embodiment a closure 80having a skirt portion 81 and top portion 82 is provided with a sealingdisc 83 supported on a resilient layer 84. A screw thread elementconsisting of a group of thread segments 85 is provided on the interiorwall of the skirt portion 81. The thread segments 85 are disposed atequally spaced positions around the periphery of the skirt portion 81and are disposed at an angle to cooperate with corresponding threadsegments 86 carried on the outer surface of the neck portion 87 of acontainer 88.

The thread segments 86 are equal in number to rthe segments 85 and arelocated on neck portion 87 at uniformly spaced distances around theperiphery thereof. The outer leading end of each thread segment 86 isprovided with a projection 89 which form-s a pocket or indentation 90adjacent the underside of the thread segment. The length of the threadsegments 85 carried nteriorly of skirt portionv 81 of they closure -issuch as to be received within` the pockets` 90 formed on the undersideof the threadsegments 86l carried by the container 88.

In operation of lthe embodiment illustrated in Figures 11 through 13,the closure 80 is moved downwardly on to the neckfportion 87 of`container 88 with thread elements 85 moving between the adjoining endsof adjacent thread segments86. Rotation of closure relative to container88 causes the thread elements on the closure and container to cooperateand force the closure down into sealing engagement with the end of theneck portion 87, thus compressing resilient layer 84 between disc 83 andtop portion 82 of the closure. Continued rotation of the closure 80Kresults in the thread segments 85 sliding beneath lthe projections 89 ofthe respective thread segments 86. l

After-suchlthread segments have passed completely beneath projections 89by relative rotation of the closure and container, the compressive forcebuilt up in resilient layer 84 `will be eiective to urge closure 80axially outwardly to move` the respective thread segments S5 intothepockets 90-formed on the underside of thread segments 86j, Afterthisflimited outward movement, ideally', compression of layer 84 willnot have been completely expended so that in the linal analysis disc 83will still be in lirm sealing engagement with the end of neck portion87. It will of course be recognized that to disengage closure 80 fromthis interlocking connection with container 88, it is merely necessaryto force the closure axially inwardly to disengage the parts from theirmating registration and thereafter rotate the closure relative to thecontainer for removal of the closure therefrom.

Having thus described my invention, what I claim is:

1. The combination of a container having an open neck portion; a closurefor said container having a cylindrical skirt portion; cooperating screwthread elements carried respectively by said neck portion and said skirtportion engageable upon rotation of said closure relative to saidcontainer to draw said closure axially into sealing relation with theopening of said neck portion, each of said screw .thread elementsextending around a substantial portion of the circumference of said neckand skirt p0rtions respectively and having a plurality of indentationsspaced at intervals along the length of said elements providing betweensaid indentations a plurality of projections, the indentations of one ofsaid screw thread elements being spaced at varying distances from oneanother, the projections of the other of said elements having a lengthand spacing similar to the length and spacing of the indentations ofsaid one element so that said projections and indentations coincide whensaid elements are fully engaged, said varying distances being such thatsaid screw thread elements are engaged by rotation of said closurerelative to said container without obstruction caused by matingregistration of the indentations of said one element with theprojections of said other element except at one predetermined relativeposition of said screw thread elements where said elements are fullyengaged and said indentations and projections coincide, at least one ofsaid screw thread elements having stop means axially aligned with theindentations of said one element to engage the projections of the otherof said elements and prevent axial withdrawal of said closure from saidcontainer when said projections and indentations are in matingregistration; and resilient means disposed between said closure and saidcontainer to urge said projections and indentations into matingregistration at said one position .to interlock said closure relative tosaid container.

2. The combination as recited in claim 1 wherein the spaces betweenadjacent ones of the indentations of said one thread element andprojections of said other thread element are of progressively increasedlength from one end of said thread elements to the other.

3. The combination of a container having an open neck portion; a closurefor said container having a cylindrical skirt portion; a first screwthread element carried by said neck portion, a second screw threadelement carrier by said skirt portion for cooperation with said rstscrew thread element, each of said elements extending in a helical linearound substantially the entire circumference of said neck and skirtportions respectively, each of said screw thread elements having aplurality of indentations spaced at intervals along the length thereofproviding between said indentations a plurality of projections, theindentations of one Of said screw thread elements being spaced atvarying distances from one another, the projections of the other of saidelements having a length and spacing similar to the length and spacingof the indentations of said one element so that said projections andindentations coincide when said elements are fully engaged, said varyingdistances being such that said screw thread elements are engaged byrotation of said closure relative to said container without obstructioncaused by mating registration of the indentations of said one elementwith the projections of said other element except at one predeterminedrelative position of said screw thread elements where said elements arefully engaged and said indentations and projections coincide, at leastone of said screw .thread elements having stop means axially alignedwith the indentations of said one element to engage the projections ofthe other of said elements and prevent axial withdrawal of said closurefrom said container when said projections and indentations are in matingregistration; and resilient means disposed between said closure and saidcontainer to urge said projections and indentations into matingregistration at said one position to interlock said closure relative tosaid container.

References Cited in the lile of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS1,514,337 Rappenecker Nov. 4, 1924 1,621,487 Aulbach Mar. 22, 19271,659,703 Ramsey Feb. 21, 1928 1,887,700 Stevens Nov. 15, 1932 1,988,383Hermani Jan. 15, 1935 2,623,657 De Vries Dec. 30, 1952 2,627,997Wittenberg Feb. 10, 1953 2,701,030 Hazelton Feb. 1, 1955

